Work, perseverance finally pay off for Northmen

You wonder why a kid plays high school football? Why grown men dedicate their lives to coaching it? Why it brings tears, win or lose, to virtually all involved?

Friday night is why.

And this time, they were tears of joy for Petoskey as it knocked off mighty Traverse City West, 25-22, in front of a big Titan homecoming crowd at storied Thirlby Field.

Petoskey? The 0-6 Petoskey Northmen? Yes, those Petoskey Northmen. The same kids and coaches who had not walked off a football field with a victory since almost exactly one year ago.

The same kids and coaches who had, time and again throughout this season, sat in a stone-quiet locker room, frustrated and angry and wondering what went wrong as one heart-wrenching loss after another added up. A double-overtime loss, back-breaking penalties, a last-second touchdown pass.

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It's absolutely no wonder why Petoskey coach Kerry VanOrman was literally speechless, choking back tears, as he talked moments after his team had done what just about anybody would have thought impossible.

It's absolutely no wonder why star running back Warren Gero was the same way, bowing his head, taking a huge deep breath and exclaiming "I can't even talk."

That's OK, Warren. Your legs did plenty of talking on Friday, to the tune of 202 yards and three touchdowns against a team that is, without question, the neighborhood tough guy in the Big North Conference.

Consider that the Titans are the defending league champions, have won three of the last four Big North titles, have been to the Division 1 state playoffs for five straight years, are a combined 69-34 in their 11-year history, had beaten Petoskey in all seven of their previous meetings, and featured an offensive line with three college-bound players.

And there's your challenge.

Now, get after it.

"We've always tried to build on little things," VanOrman said, reflecting on how he and his assistants have managed to get their players to continually come back, practice hard, with a purpose, and believe they are going to win. "I think you give them a challenge, question their character and their heart and they did it, they answered."

It was, indeed, a mighty mountain to climb. And while several Northmen players admitted after the game that, yeah, West can be intimidating, it didn't show on the field on Friday.

"It was like the Super Bowl all week in practice," quarterback Rob Michel said. "We were working hard. This is big for us. It's all we wanted to do."

The Northmen were presented with a number of reasons to fold, to doubt themselves, to get that sinking here-we-go-again feeling.

Holding a 15-7 lead early in the third quarter, Petoskey twice drove within striking distance with a good chance to pad its lead. They fumbled at West's 10-yard line, and, on the next drive, threw an interception after driving to the Titan 22.

In the mix, Gero left the game with an ankle injury. A little tape and a lot of heart got him back on the field, and he scored to give the Northmen a two-touchdown lead.

Hey, Gero and his teammates had come too far to watch from the bench. Petoskey was going to beat West, and nothing was going to beat Gero. Certainly not on this night.

You lace 'em up, you snap your chinstrap, and you go out and play football.

And that's exactly what Petoskey did on Friday. The Northmen took it right to West, knocked the Titans on their heels from the get-go. And while the Titans searched for a way to get off the ropes - oh, they did, and they charged back, hard - the Northmen never lost their composure, never got caught up in thinking, hey, maybe we can do it.

There's no room for doubt under the bright lights of Friday night high school football.

The Northmen sent a message on their first drive, going 56 yards in just five plays for a touchdown, with Gero and fellow halfback Kiefer Mack charging hard behind a line that epitomized what Friday's game was all about for Petoskey.

Never has a football game been played that isn't won or lost by those who toil in relative anonymity up front, the guys with the unglamorous numbers in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Those linemen - Andy Manthei, Doug Rouser, Nathan Greenwell, Kevin Jakeway, Tim Washburn, Micah Brown, Warren Wynn, Matt Rapelje, Ken Provost and Billy Hansen - paved the way to Petoskey's biggest victory, and its most satisfying, in a long time.

Gero finished with 202 yards, Mack had 103, and junior D.J. VanSlembrouck, making his first varsity start at fullback, chipped in with 41. Yeah, you might break a long one from time to time, but to consistently drive it down the opponent's throat - and, make no mistake, that's exactly what Petoskey did to the Titans on Friday - says one thing: Great line play.

"Every time we ran the power, there were holes, whether they were little or big, there was always a hole," Mack said. "It was almost like a guaranteed 10 yards."